Richmond BART shooting: Commuters scarce at transit station one day later

RICHMOND -- A fatal shooting on BART steps that sent passengers scrambling Thursday evening had police searching for answers and many commuters staying away one day later.

A man was shot and killed about 6:05 p.m. Thursday near the top of the stairs near the BART entrance off Macdonald Avenue. Police discovered a second victim, a 26-year-old man, at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo after the shooting, BART police Deputy Chief Ben Fairow said late Friday.

"He was gone from the scene when we got there," Fairow said. "He suffered a graze-type wound."

The Contra Costa Coroner's Office said Friday that the slain man was a 34-year-old transient, and declined to identify him until officials could notify next of kin, who hadn't been found yet.

Fairow said police are looking for one shooter.

"We have one assailant, and he was last seen fleeing westbound on foot on Nevin between those townhouses," he said.

Fairow said there was "some type of altercation" before the shooting, but police have no motive or connection between the victims and shooter.

"I'm especially troubled by how brazen this was," Richmond City Councilman Jael Myrick said. "An individual who would do this in a crowded public area has no respect for human life."

Witnesses described a chaotic, terrifying scene Thursday night, beginning with a barrage of gunfire and ending with a man lying on the concrete and commuters scrambling for cover.

"It was mayhem," said Joe Alexander, a Richmond resident. "I've never seen anything like it."

Alexander said he saw that the victim had a gunshot wound to the head.

"One lady was attempting CPR on him, but I could see that he was dead," Alexander said.

By Friday afternoon, the yellow police tape that had cordoned off the area Thursday night lay on the ground. Commuters and others stopped to look at the three bullet holes and spidered glass panes of the Amtrak ticket kiosk. Ticket sales for Amtrak were moved to a site downstairs in the BART station.

"I feel bad for the guy who got shot, and I feel bad for Richmond, too," said Joslyn Diaz, 18, a Richmond resident and regular BART commuter. "We're isolated here in Richmond, and this is just another piece of bad news that will make people want to stay away."

A BART station worker on duty said station traffic was down "considerably" from the normal Friday volume, and several commuters had inquired about the previous day's chaos.

Tire marks and glass fragments were strewed around the concrete pad outside the BART entrance. The three-story townhouses of the Richmond Transit Village around the BART station were mostly quiet. No one was at the children's park.

"I still can't believe this went down last night," said Corey Dokes, 35, standing outside a friend's townhouse in the BART transit village, a cluster of modern structures built around the station several years ago. "Usually, this stuff happens in the streets, but I'm not afraid to be here. I think this is an isolated incident."

The Richmond BART station opened in the early 1970s and has generally been seen as relatively free of violent crime. A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed at the station in 1994.

"Obviously, commuters' concern will be up" in the short term, said District 7 BART Director Zakhary Mallett. "But I don't think this single homicide is going to establish anything permanently paramount in terms of commuter concerns."

Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus said Friday the homicide occurred on BART property and was in the jurisdiction of BART police but that Richmond police were "working closely with the BART police and the community to help solve this case."

"There is no such thing as a low-priority homicide," Magnus said.

Anyone with information about the shooting can call BART police at 510-464-7040 or the anonymous tip line 510-464-7011.